Azerbaijani-Israeli relations are not directed against Iran, experts say

Baku/05.10.22/Turan: Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz paid an official visit to Azerbaijan on October 3.

He met with President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, Head of the Border Service Elchin Guliyev.

The meetings discussed prospects for the development of cooperation between the two countries in the military, military-technical spheres.

The same day, a telephone conversation took place between Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Huseyn Bagheri.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, the sides discussed bilateral military cooperation, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

Elman Nasirov, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, told Turan that the foreign policy course specified by President Ilham Aliyev represents bilateral relations of different directions. "In bilateral relations, we give preference to mutually beneficial cooperation relations based on international legal norms. It is important for us not to interfere in internal affairs."

According to the deputy, guided by this logic, the Azerbaijani state is interested in developing cooperation relations with the neighboring Islamic Republic of Iran. "We have repeatedly confirmed this with our actions. At the same time, the State of Israel is a strategically important state for Azerbaijan, and our relations are developing rapidly, especially in terms of energy security, cooperation in the military-technical and humanitarian spheres. There is one aspect that makes up the philosophy of the course set by President Ilham Aliyev - Azerbaijan's relations with any state have never been aimed against a third party."

The committee member noted that by the same logic Azerbaijan is interested in developing relations with the State of Israel. "According to the same logic, we are developing our relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In no case is the development of relations with Tel Aviv directed against Tehran. And the development of relations with Tehran is not against Tel Aviv."

According to him, despite this, it seems that there are parties in the Islamic Republic of Iran who are dissatisfied with the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli relations. "But this concern has no grounds. The state policy of Azerbaijan is not aimed at anyone, but is aimed at cooperation."

The head of the "Atlas Research Center", Elkhan Shahinoglu, said that military-technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel continues and expands. "This is evidenced by the visit of the Israeli Defense Minister to Baku. This is a very important visit, and it is felt that both Azerbaijan and Israel are interested in further military-technical cooperation. And this means that in the future we will be able to buy more modern weapons from Israel."

The expert noted that Azerbaijan cannot buy weapons from the West. "The West does not sell us weapons. We once bought $5 billion worth of weapons from Russia, but some of it turned out to be of poor quality. That's why we buy weapons from our main partners – Turkey and Israel. These weapons played an important role in our victory in the Second Karabakh War."

According to the political scientist, Azerbaijani-Israeli relations have always worried the official circles of Iran. "Israel has never interfered in Azerbaijani-Iranian relations. However, Iran, unfortunately, intervened. I think that on the same day after Zakir Hasanov's meeting with the Israeli Defense Minister, the telephone conversation with Bagheri was aimed at reassuring Iran a little that Azerbaijani-Israeli military cooperation is developing on the basis of the bilateral principle."

However, the expert does not believe in the sincerity of Iran. "Because a few days ago Bagheri made several statements in which he accused Azerbaijan. In fact, this is their problem. Unfortunately, information has appeared on the website associated with the Iranian Islamic Guard Corps that Azerbaijan, Israel and Turkey are transporting weapons to Iran. This is a lie from head to toe. There may be certain Israeli plans for Iran, but neither Azerbaijan nor Turkey interfere in Iran's internal affairs. On the other hand, the arrival of the Israeli Defense Minister in Baku shows that official Baku does not shy away from these provocative statements of Iran."-0-